Born 5-3-26. Some years we do a fun theme for names. This year for Top Gun Whiskey we are continuing with Top Gun Call Signs from the original 1986 movie and the 2022 movie. Our other stallions will have the names of Rock Bands from the 70s, 80s and 90s. This filly will have a pedigree name and not follow any of the themes, but we are calling her Pua. Our granddaughter named her as she was with us the day she was born. Pua is the small pig from the movie Moana and our granddaughter just loves that movie!

‘Pua’ is a sorrel/red roan filly with no white on her legs and a very small white star/hairs on her forehead. If roaning does not become apparent, we will color test. Her dam, Peponita Roan Bar JW aka Strawberry tragically, while foaling or shortly after, suffered a ruptured uterine artery and passed quickly from internal bleeding. She was 18 years old. Strawberry was more than just a broodmare to us. She was one of four offspring we retained from one of our founding mares, Fancy Roan Belle. From that small group came generations that helped shape our entire program and our ranch. Her legacy runs deep here. She was the kind of broodmare everyone hoped for. No matter what stallion she was crossed on, she consistently gave us some of the top foals each year. Her babies were always sought after, and if we offered them for sale, they were often among the first to be spoken for. Time and time again, she produced quality, talent, and good minds. She gave us so much to be grateful for. Through Strawberry and her family of horses, we have retained daughters, sons, sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, cousins, and grandget that continue to carry her influence forward. Horses connected to both sides of her bloodline that we have on our ranch include Docs Fancy Roan, Whiskey Up Roan JW, Whiskey Up Poland JW, Paddys Gin Fanta JW, Peponita Stareyed JW “Bubbles,” Angel Lace Reed JW, Del Rio Bartender JW, Sagebrush Drift JW, Paddys Gin Frodo JW, Condor Bartender JW, London Blue Drift JW,  Larimar Bartender JW, Roan Bar Topsail JW, Miss Two ID Peponita (see link below), Bluestem Roan Bar JW, and Whiskey Up Roan JW’s future 2026 foal as well as the 2026 foals Journey Topsail JW, Creedence Topsail JW and Whiskey Up Queen JW.

Strawberry’s impact on our program cannot be measured in papers or pedigrees alone. She helped build the kind of horses we value — good-minded, dependable, athletic, and rooted in generations of proven ranch horses. We raised her out of our mare, Fancy Roan Belle aka Roany who was a cornerstone mare for our program. Her sire was Mr Salty Peponita. Strawberry had a 2014 blue roan filly, Raz Ber Rita Reed JW, 2016 bay roan filly Riveria Reed JW, both by JK Jay Reed; 2017 Whiskey Up Bonita JW by Whoop Up Whiskey and 2018 Miss Two ID Peponita by Two ID Sweet Buck from Tien Quarter Horses who was a keeper for us and gave us her first foal in 2023.  Her 2019 foal, Paddys Gin Jafar JW, by TRR Paddys Texas Gin, was a big stout red roan that went with a repeat buyer. Her 2020 foal Top Gun Arlington JW by Top Gun Whiskey and was a mini me of his sire and went to a repeat buyer.  She had a 2021 filly, Manzanita Drift JW, by Walter O Rielly aka Radar, who is now sold to a family in Idaho with a very strong appreciation for all Walter O Rielly offspring. Her 2022 foal, Top Gun Stingray JW, also by Top Gun, went to Canada. Her 2023 foal, London Blue Drift JW, has been retained for us. Her 2024 filly was also by Radar, Callisto Drift JW, went with a repeat buyer.  Her 2025 filly by Goldun Topsail, Roan Bar Topsail JW, stayed with us as well. Strawberry out produced herself no matter who she was bred to.

Pua is from the 2nd foal crop of our young, home raised stallion My Bluestem Drift JW. He is 91% NFQHA and eligible to register.  He does carry a copy of the cream gene which he will pass on 50% of the time. He is the result of a very good experiment we tried; breeding his dam to his sire, Walter O Rielly aka Radar. Radar was a foundation stallion we had purchased several years ago to get some fillies to retain back for our program. Within the first few years, we discovered we really liked his foals for ourselves as saddle horses. He became a great addition to our program and had 12 foal crops for us. He brought older foundation lines to cross back with our Paddy's get. Radar threw BIG foals that could cover a lot of ground with amazing laid-back dispositions. Most of his offspring have gone on to be ranch horses, with a few rope and barrel prospects too. We then decided to breed one of our favorite ranch mares we used, My Kittys Belle JW, and cross with Radar in hopes of getting some foals we just knew we would want to keep and ride. My Kittys Belle JW’s mother, My Little Kitty, was owned by Barbra Kennedy Johnson and was given to Ella. Belle’s sire was our late 96% NFQHA stallion, JK Jay Reed, who was a consistent producer. We really liked Bluestem and always thought of him as a stallion prospect and replacement for his sire. We were very picky and waited a long time for a Radar replacement and then we had Bluestem! We didn’t need him yet, so he was sent to training as a 2 year old, started under saddle, became quite well broke, did some ranching and was well into his roping training by spring of 2024 when his sire passed at the age of 24. It was time to bring him home to fulfill his place in our program. Bluestem is deeply rooted in our program with JK Jay Reed, Walter O Rielly, My Kittys Belle and My Little Kitty. 2026 is Bluestem’s second foal crop. As we do all our horses, we evaluate after a few foal crops. We like what we see so far.

Pua is 92% NFQHA eligible. If you are drawn to old foundation breeding, this filly has got it! This was the first and (now) the only time we paired this sire and dam together and she is all we hoped she would be.  She reminds us very much of Bluestem’s mama, Belle.

After milking her deceased mama, getting her that colostrum plus frozen colostrum from our freezer, the vet and donated colostrum from a friend, her 24 hour IGG showed she was over 800 and that was sufficient.  She required 24/7 bottle feeding every 1-3 hours as we worked to have one of our open mares brought back into milk. Pua is now being raised by one of our open mares. She is doing very well and with lots of hours, hard work and some ‘love potion’ medicine, the mare has accepted Pua as her own! We are so thankful this filly has come through and is thriving. We will be keeping Pua for ourselves.

Genetic Test Results-PENDING